Beast Gacha System: All Mine-Chapter 49: Shattered

"Father, you know Ruby’s never wrong," Nikolas insisted. "She even knew about Mother’s missing necklace, told us which auction house would have it! She’s always been precise."

"I know she’s never been wrong before," Dorian’s voice crackled back through the communication crystal. "But the truth is that she finally is wrong. Arkai Dawnoro is alive. And because of our... precipitous arrival, half the continent is using our name as the punchline to a joke!"

"Father, please, be calm," Nikolas soothed, deploying the strategic patience he’d honed at court. "No one ever mocks those who heed the Saintess’s counsel. They’re seen as prudent, prepared for the worst. And we announced our mobilization as purely altruistic. It was just a swift response to aid the Dawnoro in their hour of need."

"People never mocked those who listened to the previous Saintess," Dorian snapped, "because all her warnings made sense! Seismic readings, weather patterns, political instability, there was a logic to it! There is no shame in being prepared for a logical threat!"

His voice rose, "But this... this was announcing a man’s funeral before his body was cold. It’s not prudence, it’s presumption. And it’s humiliating!"

To be the first vulture to descend upon a carcass that then stood up, shook itself off, and asked you to pass the salt... Yes, Nikolas understood the humiliation.

"Next time," Dorian’s voice dropped into a warning, "you better be more... discerning... about what you choose to believe. We cannot afford to provoke a power like Arkai Dawnoro again. Not so blatantly. And keep your ambitions sheathed. In the capital, it’s a dog-eat-dog world, and you’re currently wearing the scent of a missed meal."

"Yes, Father," Nikolas replied, the words gritted out from between teeth clenched so tight his jaw ached.

"Listen well, boy," Dorian hissed, the sound dangerous through the crystal’s glow. "We keep our teeth hidden. Our claws retracted. That includes not letting that Vasiliev tiger-cub provoke you. Your little pissing contest with Arzhen is a luxury we cannot indulge if it draws the wrong kind of attention."

Nikolas’s hands, resting before the glowing crystal, balled into white-knuckled fists. "Understood, Father."

"Good. Fix it," Dorian commanded. "She’s your bonded mate now. Her credibility is yours. You cannot let her, or your blind faith in her, earn the permanent animosity of the Black Wolf King." He paused, "At least... not for now."

"Remember," Dorian’s voice faded. "We will take the North for ourselves... one day—"

CRASH—!!! RUMBLE—RUMBLE—RUMBLE—

The image of his father, Dorian, seated in his study, was violently swallowed by a rushing wave of dust and smoke.

"Father...?!"

The projection shuddered, showing a fleeting glimpse of a massive timber beam crashing down before the entire scene dissolved into a chaos of blurred debris. The old wolf was gone, vanished into the sudden, violent static.

"Father!" Nikolas shouted, surging forward in his seat as if he could reach through the crystal. "Father, what happened?! Father!"

Crackle—crackle—ssss—bzzzzzzz—

The connection fizzed, strained, then somehow stabilized into a thread. A weak, pained voice emerged from the noise.

"What is... the meaning of this...?" It was Dorian, his voice was thready. There was shock and what sounded like physical hurt in his voice. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

And then, another voice cut through. It was cold, flat, and carried vengeance.

"This is war. And it’ll start with you."

Nikolas grasped the communication crystal, "Father? Father! Who is that?! Who is that, Father!" his knuckles white, as if he could strangle an answer from the object.

But no answer came. The crystal’s light flickered, dimmed to a faint ember, and died with a soft, pathetic ping. A fine, intricate web of cracks spiderwebbed across its surface before it collapsed in on itself, crumbling into a small pile of shards on his desk.

"No! Father! SOMEONE! GET ME A COMMUNICATION CRYSTAL!" His roar tore through the quiet of his chambers, panic overriding all decorum.

He was on his feet with fury and fear already moving toward the door. His mind immediately mapped the swiftest route north. When a harried aide scurried in with a fresh crystal, Nikolas’s orders were a rapid-fire barrage. "Find out what happened. Now. I leave within the hour. Tell me everything by then."

The aide returned too quickly, his face pale. "It’s an attack, sir. Your father... he..."

"Tell me," Nikolas hissed.

"He’s unconscious. The healers are with him. That’s all we know."

Unconscious. Not dead. The small mercy did nothing to cool the inferno in his chest. He marched down the corridor with reckless abandon. Yes, he’d been furious that Ruby’s prophecy had backfired so spectacularly. Yes, he’d seethed as his father poured all the humiliation onto his shoulders.

But an attack? A direct and violent strike on the Delanivis stronghold itself?

Who? The Dawnoros? It was the obvious answer. His father had marched an army to their border in a blatant power grab. But to retaliate now? After the farce had ended, after they’d been dismissed to play gravedigger?

It seemed both too petty and too bold. Unless the Black Wolf King’s forgiveness was as thin as the mountain air, and his patience had just run out.

He had to go. He had to see the wreckage himself.

BUMP!

"Ah!"

His reflexes caught the soft and yielding form before it could hit the floor. His urgency nearly bowled over the one person he couldn’t afford to harm.

His bonded mate. His wife. The True Saintess, Ruby Vaiva, looked up at him, her beautiful eyes wide with surprise and a flicker of pain.

"O-oww..." she groaned, one hand flying to her shoulder where she’d impacted the coiled steel of his body.

"Ruby... forgive me, I’m in a hurry. Someone will tell you later. I have to go," Nikolas said, his voice strained as he tried to layer gentleness over the frantic engine of his thoughts. He couldn’t stay. Every second was a grain of sand in an hourglass for his father.

"W-what happened, Nik...? Something bad?" Ruby’s worry was immediate, her face tilting up to his in concern.

"Yes. My father was attacked. I’m leaving for home now," he stated bluntly with the need for speed.

"What?! Attacked?!" Ruby gasped. The surprise that flashed across her features, however, was strange. It wasn’t just shock, but also confusion. The bewildered look of someone who has just heard a fact that violently contradicts their entire understanding of the world. "W-what do you mean attacked...?"

"I don’t know. I’ll find out once I get there. I’ll send you messages," he said, turning on his heel.

A small hand grasped his wrist, the grip surprisingly firm. Swallowing a surge of annoyance, he turned back.

"Nikolas, please bring me with you. I’ll try to help! Please bring me with you!" Ruby pleaded.

Ahh... this woman...